I always enjoy the Sorting scenes in the books, but you don't often come across them in fanfiction, so it was nice to read one here! You brought across poor Albus' anxiety perfectly- I really felt for him all the way through this, especially with a brother like James!

It was interesting to hear how her Sorting had affected Dominique- it's quite an equivocal issue in the books, about whether Sorting is a good or bad thing, and Dominique seems an example of how it can affect people. It makes me a little sad to think that her family can't accept her being in Slytherin after they all fought for equality against Voldemort...

The shy conversations between the new first years were really sweet- they seemed very realistic. I laughed at Albus' annoyance that they had to read out his whole name!
And that's quite a declaration from the Sorting Hat! Is it going to be part of the plot?

I do like that you haven't just put all the next gen kids into Gryffindor- it feels much more likely this way, and the Houses you've chosen for them are original and yet believable- I can actually see Albus as a Ravenclaw, although of course we haven't seen much of him yet...

A great, and rather dramatic chapter! I did enjoy it, although I was kind of hoping to hear more from Dominique... but either way well done!

-Bethany

Author's Response: thanks so much for your super awesome review! I'm glad you like the sorting scene- I think the sorting is part of a huge rite of passage for hogwarts students and its interesting to see how a label like 'slytherin' can affect kids. yes the sorting hat's retirement is a part of the plot, but it doesn't come up until a lot later :)
I'm glad you like where people are sorted--I just have a hard time believing they would all be gryffindor's.
never fear, you will be seeing loads of dominique and albus in the future!
once again, thanks so much for this review- it totally made my day :)
~M